A Forced Destiny
by MasterFirebender84
Summary: Oneshot. Korra never wanted to be the Avatar, but she has no choice. She's on her way to Republic City to seek the Airbender known as Tenzin, the son of Avatar Aang. But one night, she tells her animal guide, Naga, how she feels about being the Avatar.


I've decided, in honor of the new "Legend of Korra" series, to make a little oneshot of our soon-to-be-Avatar. I hope you all enjoy this little oneshot, and please share your thoughts with me. Like I always say...enjoy, read, and review!

****DISCLAIMER:** **I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show and its characters belong to Mike and Bryan, the brillant geniuses behind one of the greatest cartoon shows in the history of cartoons. Their work is legendary, and I salute them for it. I also do not own The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra.

**A Forced Destiny**

The campfire crackled as the flames continued to burn, illuminating the small campsite of a young girl and her Polar Bear-Dog. The campsite was in the northern part of the Earth Kingdom, somewhere above Wu Long Forest. A small hill was to the young girl's back, and her animal companion was wrapped around her. The animal's massive white head rested on her large paws, her black eyes closed tight as she slept. A saddle was on the animals back, complete with harness and reins.

The young girl's arms were wrapped around her knees, hugging them close to her developed chest. She wore clothing from the Water Tribe, a light blue sleeveless shirt lined with white fur at the armpits. Her brown hair was put up in a sharp ponytail, while two loose braids of hair hung down her face. She wore rugged tan boots and dark blue pants, while a brown pelt lined with white fur covered her waist and legs. She wore dark blue arm cuffs as well as a blue and white band on her right bicep, alternating triangles with a blue dot in the center of the white ones. Her skin was olive colored, a characteristic of her people in the land of ice. Her face was sharp, hardened by the things she's seen recently. She had all the beauty of a young woman and all the turbulent emotions of a teenage girl. Her eyes were a sharp blue, reflecting the sea of turmoil that raged within her.

She was a young woman unlike any in her world, for she held a power that no one else had. It was a special kind of power that was given to one person in each generation of the world, one person to keep balance between the four nations. This power was known as the Avatar Spirit, a power that gave a person the ability to bend the four elements as well as control a massive power known as the Avatar State. The Avatar was one of the most revered beings in the existence of the world, for the Avatar brought balance between the Air Nomads, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, and the Fire Nation. People honored the Avatar for their deeds, the masses of the nations thinking that such a powerful being would not feel conflicted within themselves about their duty.

But she knew better than the masses, for she was the Avatar. She, a normal girl from the Southern Water Tribe, was the Avatar, the most powerful being in the entire world. Her life had been normal until the day of her sixteenth birthday, the day her life changed forever…the day she found out she was the Avatar. She was the next Water Tribe Avatar in the Cycle…she was a Waterbender from the South Pole…she was a girl named Korra.

Korra stared with hard blue eyes at the burning campfire, feeling anger well up inside of her. "The whole thing's stupid, Naga…" she muttered, causing her animal companion to open one large black eye at her. As Korra breathed in and out, the flames grew and shrank with her breathing. The young Avatar had learned to control the element of fire after a few months in the Fire Nation, the latest step in her journey around the world. Korra narrowed her eyes at the fire as she asked, "Why did I have to be the Avatar?" She stood up and walked away from Naga, causing the animal to lift her head and look at her young master. Korra walked to the other side of the campfire, her back to the flames as she looked up at the starry night sky.

"I just don't understand, Naga…" she said helplessly. "I don't understand why it had to be me." The celestial diamonds sparkled in her silvery blue eyes as she said, "I was just a normal Waterbender from the Southern Water Tribe…I had a loving family…great friends…people who cared about me…a home…" She could feel her eyes well up with tears as she sadly thought of her homeland that she left behind all those months ago. She clenched her fists as she firmly said, "And then everything changed…the day I turned sixteen…" She furiously rubbed away her tears and angrily said, "The day I became the Avatar…the day that I found out that some stupid, bald headed monk before me shoved his _spirit_ inside my body the day I was born!"

She whipped around to face Naga and shouted, "Why did Avatar Aang have to choose _me_?" She flung her hands in the air as she shouted, "I was only a baby, for La's sake!" The fire illuminated her, showing the angry scowl on her tan face. Her voice took on a sarcastic tone as she bitterly said, "When he died, did he just _zoom_ his way over to the South Pole and go 'Hmm, let me see which baby's life I can totally screw over? Ah! Here's one! I'm going to completely ruin this little girl's life, and I think her name might be…Korra!'" Flames shot out of her nose as she looked up at the sky and screamed, "Well, you certainly did your job! My life's in ruins now, thanks to _you_!"

She looked down at the fire, which was blazing hot with the force of her uncontrolled rage. Naga just stared silently at her master, her large black eyes entirely focused on the raving teenager in front of her. Korra shot her eyes up at Naga and sarcastically said, "And you know what else is rich? My parents knew I was the Avatar my _whole life_! When I was born, the Water Shamans told them that after performing tests on me, they discovered that the Avatar Spirit had been reincarnated in me…in _me_! The most stubborn, rebellious, hard-headed girl in the _entire_ South Pole! And my parents knew the _whole_ time!"

Naga whimpered slightly, obviously upset by her master's behavior. Korra's eyes soften as she looks at her Polar Bear-Dog, the animal who's been with her since she was just a little girl. Her father had given Naga to her when she turned four years old, and Naga was just a little pup then. They had grown up throughout the years, and the two were as inseparable as the sun was from the moon. Naga was one of her last connections to the South Pole…to her home…to her parents. She remembered the night she left the South Pole, how she looked back at her home one last time as she mounted Naga. She had seen the silhouettes of her parents in the light coming from the igloo, but she knew that they had sad and mournful looks on their faces. She remembered the overwhelming sadness that took over her soul as she turned her back on the igloo, staring sadly into the night as she and Naga left to face their destinies.

Korra looked back at the fire and mumbled, "You're right, Naga…they never meant to hurt me by keeping my identity as the Avatar a secret…they just wanted me to live a normal life until…until the day I had to leave…" Anger began to replace the sadness inside of her, causing her fists to clench again. Her knuckles turned white as she turned her head skyward and shouted, "Why Aang? Why did you have to do this to me? Because of what you did, I won't see my parents again for a long time!" The fire began to burn brighter as she screamed, "Because of you, I'm forced to run all around the world by myself! I have no friends outside the Southern Water Tribe!"

A strong wind blew through the campsite at that moment, buffeting Korra as the wind whipped through her hair. She thought she heard the sound of someone laughing as the wind rushed past her, and her anger instantly burst forth like a wildfire. As the wind died down, she screamed, "Oh, you think that's funny Aang? You think it's funny that I'm all alone, facing the entire world by myself?" She shot fire out of her mouth as she yelled, "Well I got news for you, Baldie! I'M FINE ALL ON MY OWN! I DON'T NEED ANYONE'S HELP! I CAN KICK AS MUCH BUTT AS I WANT ON MY _OWN_!"

Her fists began to burn as she added, "And you know what I think about being the Avatar? I hate it! I hate having to travel from place to place, learning how to bend each of the elements! I already learned how to Waterbend back home, I pretty much kicked Earthbending's butt in the Earth Kingdom, and I smoked my Firebending training in the Fire Nation!" Gesturing to the dark horizon, she added, "Now I gotta go to United Republic to learn how to Airbend from _your_ son! Where the heck am I supposed to find one Airbender in a place as huge as United Republic, a city _you_ and Fire Lord Zuko founded together!" She gritted her teeth and shouted, "And you know what I hate the most? I hate the fact that because of _you_, my life's been turned completely upside down!"

She shook her head and bitterly said, "Scratch that. The thing I hate the most about being the Avatar is that, despite all these powers that I have, everyone looks up to me as if I'm some kind of hero! I haven't done _anything_ to get the hero worship, and yet everywhere I go people are practically throwing themselves on the ground in front of me!" Her hands shook with livid rage as she shouted, "I'm no hero! I'm just a scared, confused girl who's been thrown into a life that she wasn't prepared for! I hate being the Avatar because my destiny is being forced on me!" She flung her arms above her head and threw them downwards as she screamed, "I HATE MY LIFE!" The campfire exploded in a column of flames, the spire of fire reaching high into the dark sky. Naga covered her head to block out the heat, her massive front paws over her large snout. The heat wave from the flames roared past Korra, causing her hair to whip violently from the blast of hot air. After several seconds, the column of flames died down, leaving nothing but a smoldering pile of ashes behind. The campsite was plunged into darkness as Naga uncovered her large head, the great beast watching as her master turned around and sat heavily on the ground, crossing her legs as she sat.

"I never wanted this life…" muttered Korra sadly as tears sprang into her eyes. "I never wanted to be the Avatar…I never wanted to leave home…but I have no choice." She buried her face in her hands as she muttered in a choked voice, "I wish I had never been born…" The grief and sorrow she felt at the moment overtook her as she began to weep, the rebellious and angry side of her washed away as sadness took hold. She just wanted a normal life, but her duty as the Avatar prevented that from happening. She was to always roam the world, stopping trouble wherever it sprang up…but it could never replace the home she had lost to a life she had no control over. This realization crushed the young Avatar's heart, and her cries of grief filled the night sky.

Suddenly, something nudged up against Korra on her right side. The young woman's eyes snapped opened as she looked over to see Naga nuzzling her, whimpering sadly as her snout rubbed up against Korra's arm. The distraught Water Tribe Avatar let out a choked sob, tears streaming down her young face. "Oh Naga…" she moaned desolately as she threw her tan arms around the Polar Bear-Dog's thick neck, gripping the white fur with her olive fingers. She rested her head on Naga's snout, still crying as she said, "Please…please never leave me, Naga. I don't want to be alone…" Naga whined in response to Korra's plea, showing that she would never leave her master. Avatar and animal guide remained locked in their embrace for almost half an hour before they drifted off to an undisturbed slumber, sleeping peacefully as the stars in the night sky continued their celestial dance.


End file.
